Persevero

Louise stood solemnly at her door and listened. She heard some footsteps outside, which meant she and Rez would be staying for a little longer. Her son was covered head to toe in blood and was looking at it as though it were honey. Although… Louise hadn’t eaten honey in some time.

Her small two room home was currently acting as a safe haven for both her and her son. For as far as she knew, the world outside was nothing but violence and death. Hence why she currently held a gun. 

Since she had time to spare, as she sure wasn’t heading out any time soon; she decided to give Rez a brief wash.

Using the reserved water, she had kept in a bucket, which she assumed would soon be redundant in coming days. She soaked the unsuspecting boy, causing him to fly around the room in complete confused disarray.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Louise realised her mistake as she quickly scooped up the boy, and shut him up with a glare that the boy seemed to fear more than death itself. Staring at the door she waited.

One.

Two.

Three.

No sound.

Satisfied she gently placed Rez back on the floor. Getting a good look at how dirty her son was, she unsheathed a small cloth and began wiping the boy at incalculable speed. 

During the process, Louise realised that this was definitely the result of stress. The kind of, do something you enjoy doing before you die stress.

Unfortunately, the boy was soon clean, and she had to find another method to entertain herself. Although first she heard some footsteps travelling slowly downstairs, quickly peaking outside she saw it was a teenaged Scorcher. One thing she noted was that he didn’t carry a weapon.

Something very noticeable when all that was scattered on the ground were broken shovels and smoking firearms. Looking back inside her home, her brain started fretting to find something to do. At first it was a simple arm twitch, but over time Louise found herself shaking with uncontrollable stress.

Admittedly she wasn’t very scared for herself, more for Rez. The child caused her great pain many times throughout her life, though unintentionally. He somehow had a compass which pointes directly towards trouble in even the safest of situations.

Then Louise realised, having looked around, that Rez didn’t seem to be in the bathroom anymore.

Well, that’s fine he’d just be in the main room… or hiding under the bed… or behind the curtain… Filled with now with a gut-wrenching fear she jumped outside… to find the boy making snow angels in blood.

Louise wasn’t entirely sure whether to be disgusted at her son’s actions, thankful that he didn’t go far or just very simply confused. Although she was annoyed that Rez had just disregarded all of her vigorous cleaning from a few minutes ago… 

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted with a gunshot ringing upwards from what she assumed was the floor directly below.

Realising that’s were the Scorcher boy went, she crept her way downstairs to find even more blood than on her current floor. A quick search brought her to who Louise thought was the boy lying on the ground.

He had been shot with a single bullet yet somehow, he seemed content, eyes closed with a smile. About to leave, Louise felt the boy breath slightly onto her hand. Realising that he must still be alive, she ran back upstairs to find medicinal supplies. This time she made sure Rez followed her.

Louise had thankfully been hoarding various medical supplies for as long as she could remember. With a mix of various bandages and even a tiny bit of anaesthetic. 

Although, her reason for keeping them wasn’t exactly for the purpose of tending to a random Scorcher and was more dedicated to Rez. Nonetheless she was fairly certain that either way it would probably be fine, she had enough supplies for both of them anyway.

Carrying the large box of medical supplies very carefully downstairs, a small voice peeped behind her.

“Mum, do you want any help with that?” Louise saw her son brightly looking up at her, as though he would be ready to carry the heaviest thing in the world. She gave him a few bandages to carry which was enough to satisfy the boy.

By the time she arrived at the dying Scorcher, his breath had slowed significantly. He seemed to be doing his upmost best to survive, but Louise noted he wouldn’t last for much longer.

She spent some time bandaging his wounds so that he wouldn’t lose any more blood. Keeping the bullet inside as a preventative for the bleeding she rested him so he would find it easier to breath. The rest would be up to him if he wanted to survive.

By now Louise felt sick of the castle walls, and the stench of rotting flesh was finally getting to her. She decided to briefly head back to her room once again to find some entertainment for George, and whatever food she had left.

This consisted of one single slice of bread, which was honestly better than nothing in her eyes. As well as a small ball which she tossed to Rez for his own personal entertainment.

The mother and son trekked their way slowly down some more floors, with Louise carefully scouting out the area ahead of them as she went. With a loaded pistol the two crossed through until they were just above the auditorium.

§

Louise was on the lookout for her husband, who she presumed was probably either already dead; or perhaps hiding somewhere she might be able to reach. Scanning the floor, she was currently on, Louise searched through her memory for something that might help her with finding her husband.

As with most Scorchers he certainly had a like for shovels, so he spent a reasonable amount of time in the armoury. Then again, he could be hiding slightly off from his guard post, as Louise noted that he could hide fairly easily there.

There was also the more likely possibility that he had been so mutilated that one of the bodies she’d walked past was his, and she hadn’t noticed. Louise certainly didn’t feel happy about that but at the same time her current goal was to protect Rez.

Her son was currently bumbling about behind her, completely unaware of their situation. Part of her liked that, at the very least her sound could grow into someone detached from violence. Though deep down she knew it wouldn’t last.

With the aim to arm both herself and Rez, Louise settled on heading to the armoury for their next stop. From there she could probably attempt escape through the auditorium or otherwise. So, moving carefully throughout the current floor, Louise and her son snuck down the nearby set of stairs into the armoury.

On the way she saw a Spotless survivor, wielding both gun and shovel she kept both herself and Rez silent as they moved past. Something was off about him, there was no uptight or overwhelming presence. Yet at the same time it was far from a welcoming one. 

Entering the armoury Louise briefly took the time to sit down.

Believe it or not, Louise found that constant stress for around 2 hours straight has significant effects on your state of mind. Hence, she needed to rest for a bit.

§

“Muuuuum! You seem tired, let me wake you up.” Louise heard her son brightly shout. She didn’t have enough energy to tell him to be quiet, so she let him do as he pleased.

The boy then proceeded shake his mother vigorously awake. Causing Louise to once again glare at him for the second time in one day, this was a new achievement for Rez… though not one he was proud of.

Having been woken up, and suitably powered by annoyance, Louise decided to search the armoury.

She found some ammunition for her gun, as well as a small blade which might come in handy later. She also found a steel metal ball. She wasn’t too sure what it would be used for as about the same size as her fist, he weighed about as much as she though solid steel would weight. A fuck ton.

Still with an idea to use it in mind, she put it in the basket that was previously carrying medicinal goods and prepared to leave. Rez followed loyally behind, and unusually silent, he was clearly still shaken at the second glare he had received that day.

Exiting the armoury, Louise made her way out the door with the goal of the auditorium. Where from there, she hoped could maybe find an escape outside of this dreaded castle for the first time in years.